Immigration law boosts Arizona governor

Arizona has passed a bill authorizing police officers to stop any person the officer suspects of being an undocumented immigrant. It is causing quite an uproar. Univision news leads off its news telecasts with the story, and examines it thoroughly; Anglo news gets to it some time during the half hour. It's startling how different of a priority it is for the separate constituencies; well, not startling, truly, but it is a stark contrast.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's call to raise taxes threatened her political future, say political analysts, but her decision to crack down on illegal immigration could save it. Facing a yawning budget gap and anemic political support, Gov. Brewer stands to get a boost from her signing last week of an immigration enforcement bill ahead of this summer's Republican gubernatorial primary.

Watching a news program a couple of nights ago, or so, I saw Gover Norquist make this point. Norquist is an anti-tax actuivist, and is also on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association and the American Conservative Union. Not my type of guy, but he does make an interesting point abou the Governor. As for the rest of the Arizonans supporting this crazy scheme, I can only wonder if they truly believe that this law will work. There is a lot of anger, on both sides. Authorizing police to act as immigration agents is a dubious enterprise.

Concern about spiraling violence related to drug and human smuggling has escalated to public outrage after the death of a rancher near the U.S.-Mexico border. Polls showed Arizona voters overwhelmingly in favor of the measure, which makes illegal immigration a state crime.

The escalating violence inside of Mexico has spilled over the border on occassion. Who was responsible for that death is still an open question.

Even critics of the law said the governor's support made political sense. "Not signing it would have been political suicide," said Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, a civil-rights group. At a news conference Friday, the governor said, "We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels." She blamed the federal government for ignoring Arizona's border-related troubles.

The federal government has not dealt with the border issues properly because it is such a polarizing issue. But ignoring it does not work.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled his desire to push federal legislation this year to overhaul the immigration system, including a provision paving the way to legalize millions of undocumented workers That measure is popular with Hispanic voters, who make up 15% of the electorate in Mr. Reid's home state of Nevada, where he is embroiled in a difficult re-election bid. Hispanics make up growing shares of the vote in other states with big races this year, including Colorado and Florida.

Senator Reid needs votes.


Mr. Obama, who last week called senators to build support for the federal bill, appears to welcome the debate. But the federal bill's prospects are unclear. A similar measure failed in 2007 amid opposition from conservatives, who criticized the legalization as unfair amnesty. The chief sponsor of that measure, Arizona Sen. John McCain, facing a primary challenge from the right, came out this year in support of the state measure signed by Ms. Brewer and hasn't played a role in the Senate negotiations.

Classic McCain: flip, flop.